Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.Division of Urology, Veterans Affairs Medical Center Durham, Durham, North Carolina.Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.

Division of Urology, Department of Surgery, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.Division of Urology, Veterans Affairs Medical Center Durham, Durham, North Carolina.Department of Pathology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina.

Abstract

Background: Evidence for an association between total cholesterol, low- and high-density lipoproteins (LDL and HDL, respectively), triglycerides, and prostate cancer is conflicting. Given that prostate cancer and dyslipidemia affect large proportions of Western society, understanding these associations has public health importance.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort analysis of 843 radical prostatectomy (RP) patients who never used statins before surgery within the Shared Equal Access Regional Cancer Hospital (SEARCH) database. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards analysis was used to investigate the association between cholesterol, LDL, HDL, and triglycerides and biochemical recurrence risk. In secondary analysis, we explored these associations in patients with dyslipidemia, defined using National Cholesterol Education Program guidelines.

Conclusions: Elevated serum triglycerides were associated with increased risk of prostate cancer recurrence. Cholesterol, LDL, or HDL were not associated with recurrence risk among all men. However, among men with dyslipidemia, elevated cholesterol and HDL levels were associated with increased and decreased risk of recurrence, respectively.